CHAPTER VIII 



Mr. Drinkald— His eccentric attire— Why I laid Boiardo for 

 the St. Leger of 1854— A riot at Doncaster— The fighting 

 brothers Broome— Black Tommy and the Derby— Ten Thou- 

 sand pounds to a suit of clothes— Mr. Drinkald's bitter pill 

 —Blink Bonny's triumph— The Leger defeat— Mr. Swindell's 

 advice— The Jackson confederacy— Prioress's Cesarewitch— 

 A dead heat between three— A change of jockeys and of 

 result — My opinion of Fordham — How Captain Little 

 "kidded" him— Heiress's defeats— Dulcibella's Cesarewitch 

 — Her previous running — Ladies in hiding. 



Mr. Drinkald, who played a prominent part on the 

 Turf in the Fifties, was one of the most extraordinary 

 looking- men that 1 ever saw. His straight, jet 

 black hair nearly touched his shoulders, and his 

 countenance was of a hue that would have befitted 

 a gipsy. The curious hat, with a remarkably narrow 

 brim, that he always affected accentuated the 

 strangeness of his appearance, further heightened 

 by the conspicuousness of his clothes. Yet though 

 by reason of his "get up" he attracted attention, 

 he was no seeker for popularity. In truth, one of 

 his aims in life appeared to be to excel in the 

 " gentle art " of making enemies. Still, to those he 

 affected he could be very agreeable, though I confess 



pi 



